I go to a lot of concerts. Most “new” bands I go see are based on being open minded and interested to see if a ‘buzz band’ lives up to the hype. More often than not, I am pleasantly surprised. If you know me, you will know that I am VERY easy to please. I want to be entertained. I want the rocker to do their job and turn a complete stranger (me) into a fan after walking into the concert with little or no knowledge of their music in advance of seeing them right before my eyes. That is not too much to ask for. My track record for this formula has resulted on me falling on the ‘love’ side so much more than the ‘dislike’ side, but occasionally I make a huge error in judgment. Before you call me a hater for the sake of hating, please send me a list of the concerts you’ve been to in the last 5 years and if it is not more than several hundred a year like I’ve been to, I am discrediting your opinion. With that being said, I saw Swedish duo Icona Pop at an allegedly sold out show at New York’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 25, 2013. There were scalpers for days outside the venue, unable to unload their tickets and inside the venue, there was ample room to move around, which is not the norm when a show is actually sold out.

Typically when I dislike a show as much as I disliked Icona Pop, I tend not to waste my time and energy by writing a shitty review. But I just feel like I need to warn you, dear readers, not to waste your money with this band. First off, calling Icona Pop a ‘band’ is a huge stretch. Performing to backing tracks, I was not entirely sure if they were singing live, however, hearing their voices crack several times, throughout their paltry hour long set, I am sure the microphones were at least turned on occasionally.

Aino Jawo (on the right in the above picture) pretended to play guitar (it wasn’t plugged into anything) and Caroline Hjelt (on the left in the above picture) pretended to play keyboards while flashing lights did their best to distract the audience from the fact that they paid $25 (plus service fees) to hear their 2 minute mega-hit “I Love It,” which was smartly and obviously the last song of the night. It looked like people tried to be into the show at first, but once the audience realized that Icona Pop have one good song (and they didn’t even write it), the crowd looked bored and everyone resumed texting instead of watching the show.

The crowd got thinner and thinner as the night wore on because it became apparent early on that “I Love It” would be saved for last and their music was not good enough to satisfy the crowd. I will say that the lighting was nice and it certainly was a good distraction from focusing on how bad Icona Pop’s music is, but you can see cool lighting on your computer screen and not waste your time trekking out to Brooklyn on a week night to do so! There were a few botched attempts at crowd sing-a-longs when the audience didn’t appear to get the words right or in time, but it matched the numerous times Icona Pop screwed up the lyrics of their own songs too. Throughout the whole show, the crowd all but shouted out “One Hit Wonder” after each song, but for those that were left, when they finally got around to playing “I Love It,” the crowd finally came alive. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.

Sadly, I felt the merch table was the best part of the show, but I just didn’t envision myself forking out $25 on a shirt that says “I Love It,” when in actuality, I loathed it. When Icona Flop Pop comes to your town, on what will possibly be the new group’s farewell tour, do yourself a favor and skip it!

Icona Pop – The Merch

The setlist was:

We Got the World /In the Stars / Then We Kiss /Good for You / Girlfriend /New Song /Manners /On the Road Again /Top Rated /Weekend /All Night

Posted by The G on March 23, 2013 under G Reviews | Comments are off for this article

Photos by G.

Shirley Manson of Garbage

Garbage! One of the best bands of the 90s is back and kicking even more ass than ever. They played a sold out show at New York’s Terminal 5 on March 22, 2013 and it was anything but garbage. The band played their first New York show in 7 years last May (which I went to and was so awesome), and they played 9 different songs last night than when they were last here!

Shirley Manson, Butch Vig, Duke Erikson

The band experienced a few technical problems, but Shirley Manson used that time to tell funny stories like comparing technical glitches to being on a bad date, but in the end you have sex anyway! She also briefly addressed the recent scandal where 90s singer Michelle Shocked made on stage anti-gay remarks and Shirley simply said “Fuck Michelle Shocked!” Manson also thanked the legions of Garbage fans who have stuck with the band through thick and thin before playing “The Trick is To Keep Breathing.”

Steve Marker and Shirley Manson

There were so many highlights and the band has so many great songs that despite playing 22 songs, I left wanting them to keep playing for another 2 hours. But they did play “Only Happy When It Rains,” “Stupid Girl,” “#1 Crush,” Special,” “When I Grow Up,””Push It,” and not often played song such as “Hammering In My Head” from “Version 2.0” and “The One” which is a bonus track on their latest album “Not Your Kind of People.” They also played “Cup of Coffee” off “Beautiful Garbage” and Shirley Manson said it’s the saddest song Garbage has ever played and encouraged fans to weep openly during the song. For the encore (and a video will be coming soon), they brought out Screaming Females lead singer Marissa Paternoster to perform a cover of Patti Smith’s “Because the Night.” You can watch a video of “Queer” right now! (link will open in new window). I know it’s good for you. You can click it if you want. 🙂

Shirley Manson, Butch Vig

If you think Garbage is one of those nostalgia acts, I highly encourage you to listen to their entire catalog as they have so many rockin’ songs and continue to make great music over 15 years after their debut! Shirley Manson’s lyrics are fragile, biting, ironic and all of them are married with an attitude of “I can kick your ass at anytime, so don’t fuck with me” and like the name of their third album, that is beautiful garbage, according 2 G.

The Swedish electronic band Swedish House Mafia are one show away from performing their final ever show in New York. I caught their second to last show on March 3, 2013 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Here are 10 reasons why the concert was a stroke of genius.

Swedish House Mafia

1. It was the biggest rave I’ve ever been to. Barclays Center holds 18,103 people and it was sold out.

2. Rather than just have one DJ behind the decks pushing buttons and moving up and down to the beat, Swedish House Mafia employ THREE DJs! Supersize it!

Swedish House Mafia

3. The group was able to sell out 3 nights at Barclays Center, 1 night at Madison Square Garden and 1 night at Hammerstein Ballroom as they’ve announced this is their final tour EVER! Since there was not much to look at other than the visuals, every seat was a good seat!

4. Swedish House Mafia said little more than “New York, MAKE SOME NOISE” and “Brooklyn, are you feeling alright?” for the duration of the show.

Swedish House Mafia

5. Laser lights, cool projections and sometimes fire and/or fireworks were featured for every song.

6. The show was proof that nearly 18,000 kids could be on drugs in a single place and nobody got hurt.

The crowd at Swedish House Mafia

7. The ability to have the crowd eating out of your hand, freaking out and losing control with dance songs whose lyrics are “Ooh, Hey” (that was the carefully selected opening act).

8. Their tour merch, which consisted primarily of sayings in a really simple font, was selling for $35 and up!

Swedish House Mafia Merch

9. The group had the nerve to take a 10 minute break in the middle of the set, thus disrupting everyone’s groove and flow! Clearly, it was not from working too hard, which makes the act even more genius!

10. At some point, enough money will be offered and Swedish House Mafia will make a killing on a reunion tour!

Swedish House Mafia

It’s crazy to think of all the songs that Swedish House Mafia will never get to perform again!

Swedish House Mafia

On a side note, this was my first trip to the Barclays Center and even though I had to travel to Brooklyn which does not make me thrilled, I must say that the staff were extremely nice and since the venue is very new, it was very clean. The prices of food are your typical over-priced stadium fare ($10.50 for a beer, $4.50 for a pretzel, $9.50 for a burger and fries, etc.) The pitch of the venue is not for those that are scared of heights, so my recommendation is to sit low if you have this affliction. Obviously, Swedish House Mafia are not doing anything to push the musical boundaries forward, but for what it was, their show was thoroughly entertaining. Their songs have great beats and their visuals could keep even non-dance music fans eye fucked all night long. If you are going to their final show EVER in New York on March 4, 2013, they went on just prior to 10 pm so make sure your drugs kick in before that hour!

Swedish House Mafia

The setlist was: 2 hours of dance music that pretty much all sounded the same with little variation.

As you all know, my life is filled with fun, excitement, art, rock & roll, celebrities and experiences that are at times too bizarre to be true, and yet, I have no reason to lie (plus I have proof). That’s why I started carrying a camera around with me. One of the most awesome things to happen to me in 2012 was getting a call from MTV Hive to host their CMJ-themed episode of “Weird Vibes!” For the duration of the music festival, the uber-awesome producer of “Weird Vibes” Shirley Braha and I hit the hottest concerts in Manhattan and Brooklyn in search of buzz and vibes and we got it!

Over the course of the week, I was fortunate enough to interview Mac Demarco, DIIV, Paul Banks (Interpol), Unicorn Kid, Kitty Pryde, and Blood Orange, and appearances by Flying Lotus, Pictureplane, Mykki Blanco, Merchandise, Thieves Like Us, Hot Sugar, Twerps, Madeline Follin of Cults, and Tao Lin! Once again, it’s nearly too good to be true, but as you will see in the video, it’s all true.

Thanks again so much to all of the artists who agreed to be interviewed.

Thanks again to Shirley Braha for being an awesome partner in crime.

Thanks again to MTV Hive for an experience I will never forget.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And with no further delay, check out the World’s #1 Blogger episode of “Weird Vibes.”